Swalwell Drops Lawsuit Against Trump-Appointed Housing Official Amid California Governor Bid
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has withdrawn his lawsuit against Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), alleging Pulte weaponized mortgage fraud investigations to target critics of former President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, initially filed in November, claimed Pulte unlawfully accessed and disclosed Swalwell’s private mortgage records, violating federal privacy law and the First Amendment.
Swalwell, currently a candidate for California governor, argued that Pulte targeted him due to his vocal criticism of Trump. According to the lawsuit, Pulte allegedly “combed through private records of political opponents to silence them.” Pulte had previously referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice regarding potential false statements in loan documents for a Washington home, claims Swalwell has refuted as “patently false.”
“Pulte threatened a case. We called his bluff. He never brought it,” Micah Beasley, a spokesperson for Swalwell’s campaign, told CNBC. “And we just won on the same nonsense issue in California. Case closed.”
Residency Challenge and Ballot Access
The dropped lawsuit coincides with challenges to Swalwell’s eligibility to appear on the California gubernatorial ballot. Rival Democrat Tom Steyer has questioned whether Swalwell is a legitimate California resident, alleging he lives in the state “on paper only.”
A separate lawsuit, brought by conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert, attempting to block Swalwell’s ballot access was tentatively rejected on Friday by a California judge, who found sufficient evidence of Swalwell’s five-year residency in the state.
Prior Investigations
The original lawsuit alleged that Pulte had previously investigated other Trump critics, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, before turning his attention to Swalwell.
Pulte did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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